Today was my work colleague Elina's 40th birthday and I must say she is looking very fabulous at 40..
Elina has lived in New York and often talks about the fond memories she has of the place and it is also where Elina and her husband went this year to celebrate her birthday. So the team at work all decided that New York would be the perfect theme for her present and cake. So I started thinking about ideas and I decided to incorporate the New York skyline and flag colours. Here is a picture of the finished cake.
I attempted to get a bit artistic when taking the picture and used Elina's New York calendar as a back drop.. not bad considering my photo taking skills are pretty limited!
The cake is a vanilla sponge filled with marshmallow fluff butter icing and strawberry jam. This is the first time I have used marshmallow fluff in butter icing and it tasted delicious. I had been given a jar from my Boyfriends brother who visited Florida recently and I have been waiting for the appropriate time to use it, and what better time than a New York themed cake! The base is a 3 layer 6 inch and the top is a 2 layer 4".
Here is the marshmallow fluff butter icing recipe I used:
Ingredients:
- 1 1⁄3; cups unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups marshmallow fluff (7 oz tub)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 -1 ½ teaspoon milk
- 2 2⁄3; cups powdered sugar
Directions:
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Blend margarine and marshmallow creme together till smooth.
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Add liquids and mix well.
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Blend in powdered sugar and beat till smooth and creamy.
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If thinner frosting is desired, simply add more milk.
If you are looking for a New York skyline patchwork cutter then I recommend Squires Kitchen to purchase it from.
Link here.
I used black flower paste rolled out very thinly with this cutter and it worked perfectly. The flower paste is a lot stronger than sugarpaste but doesnt taste great so make sure it is rolled thin or mix it with some black sugarpaste to strengthen the sugarpaste a bit. Tip: Instead of using icing sugar to prevent the flower paste sticking to the board use a white vegetable fat such as trex which helps keep the icing nice and black and also stops it sticking to the board. Icing sugar can show on dark coloured flower paste or sugarpaste making it a bit grey/ dusty looking.
Here is a picture of the cutter. You can use the cutter to extend the skyline by just cutting off the Statue of Liberty and carefully sticking them to the cake one by one using either a small amount of water or an edible glue. I prefer edible glue as there is less chance of dripping water on the cake if you accidentally use to much.
Picture of the cutter:
I will end my blog post with a lovely picture of Ellina, her cake and a few of her presents. Happy birthday Elina and happy baking everyone.
